A turn of the tides
by JjMoore
Summary: Season 3 AU. The wavering waves warrant a wild ride. Sailing the seas will lead to much more than just a search for a lost boy.
1. All that remained

**A|N:: Pardon the chapter revision. It wasn't up to par with my preferred taste in stealing your attention ;) For those who have already gave it a read, reread and shoot a review my way if you deem it a bit more eye-catchy. All newcomers, welcome to A Turn of The Tides. Hope you'll join in on the ride. **

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His get-away was swiftly slick. She should have known better than to trust a pirate. Frustration fueled beneath her scorching skin. Her uncanny knack had seemingly faltered since her return to Storybrooke. Or maybe it was slacking long before. She really couldn't pinpoint. Before strolling into town based on a kid's Peter Pan syndrome, life went according to plan…for the most part. She had worked her lows into her highs, taking her past and turning it into something worthy of a classic tale. Wrong choice down a one-way wrong path into a story more compelling. She has made something of herself, holding true to her once deprived, dignity. She was a capturer of crooks, righter of wrongs and all that righteousness that came along for the ride. Then came the kid telling tales and the town that changed it all.

Now she was minus the kid in a world that was seemingly unraveling at it's seems. Mayhem evidently was part of the epic-ness of it all. Tears threatened to fall, as her frame fell fractured within her father's grasp. The green glow lurking just beneath wavering waves was gone. The boy who had spun her world into a storybook was lost to a world she would never find. The thought crippled her.

The knock on her door back in Boston was the game changer. Up until then she knew exactly who she was and exactly who she wasn't. Henry had played the voice of reason. There is never a straight and narrow to life. It tosses a whole lot of hell your way and somewhere along the ride you learn to live with it. And when you do, things might get a little easier. For Emma Swan, she was still stuck at the half way mark. Despite her skepticism turning her into Storybrooke's savior, she was right where she started. Stuck in a world she helped spare; only to lose the one person she'd risk everything to keep. _All magic comes with a price_. The saying seemingly upheld its end of the bargain.

"_We'll find another way_."

David's words resurfaced in the midst of her surrender. What was meant to provide comfort only discouraged her more.

"_No_," the solution simple. "_This isn't a fairytale. This isn't fiction. Every story doesn't end with a happily ever after." _Her tone, plagued by truth, "_This is life._" She pried herself from father's grip. "_And life is fueled by taking a good, hard look in the mirror and facing the facts,_" her composure, lacking in compliment to such sturdy commentary. "_You might have been ripped from the pages of a book, but this isn't a child's tale._ _This is my world. And here a story is just a story. And the stories most reliable never end with a happy ending._" The words, raw with reality and resentment.

Defiant defeat displayed itself on her mother's face. "_We always find each other…_" her saying, stolen by a fly away breeze.

"_And irony has a habit of running out._"

/

Emma Swan had been blessed by unfavorable odds. She had known how the cards were dealt and when it was time to call a bluff. Even her sigh was suffering with regret. If only she had done things differently. For starters, checking for the damn bean the second the pirate supposedly handed it over. Perhaps she was getting a bit too smug for her own bridges. Besting him had been the outcome of all their run ins. She figured he was a man of repetitive nature. Or maybe there was a bit more to the story. Her gut turned at the toying notion.

And the loathing lurked deeper. Despite the epic tale and her skeptic savior status, surprisingly she had yet to tell her side of the story. Yea, secrets had been spilt here and there, but none were her tale to tell. There were moments she strived to strip free of her skin and splurge on spilling her soul. But in the end, found her only safeguard was to play her own secret keeper. Yet with Hook something was soothingly stirring. Nothing needed to be revealed, for he read her, depicted her, dipped and drenched himself in a shared past. He was relatable. And for that reason and that alone, she gave him the benefit of doubt. Though she seemingly forgot the minor detail. A pirate was purely a plunderer. The thought stroked her shame with ease.

"_Speak of the damn devil,_" her stare stolen by a ship sailing to dock. The Sheriff wasted no time dillydallying as her feet motioned a new plan of action as she headed to meet the man her mind was rationalizing payback for moments prior.

"_Shocked your little stunt didn't end with Storybrooke in pieces, pirate_? _Or are you here for the after party_?" The tips of her fingers halted along her holstered gun. "_If that's the case, I don't mind sharing a piece of my mind. I'm feeling generous_."

Hook was a man of many traits. A subdued smirk, seemingly not one of them. Nor was the cunning contour of his stance. He had something up his sleeve. He wore that look to precise perfection.

"_Your _generosity_ never blesses my best benefit, blondie._" The statement not at all soothing the scenario. And so, as usual, he continued, "_Evidently,_" his arms widening, taking in the scene with a shared smile, "_the town still towers. Seems, you didn't need the likes of me, lending_ a hand_, love._" His hook raising in notion to the present pun, "you_, once again, saved the day. The situation deemed suitable a savior, not a pirate to pilfer such victory."_

The undercurrent of his words, straying, as he stole her stare. And something, in that moment, stilled the fury radiating from her riled frame. It wasn't the simplicity at his mock mention of her savior status, but more the meaning behind it. _He_, would never be the one to fill her shoes. Her hues, drifted down the dock as the rest of the fellowship filled out aside her. And just as they did, he snapped back to his former stealthy-self.

"_I do believe,_ thank you, _is more on the task at hand. If you intend to retrieve you son from a fate already sealed, you'll find the likes of me, quite favorable._" His features, unfaltering as he made way to the wheel of his ship, "_you see, two-timing holds true to rather relishing reimbursements._" The ship setting sail as he concluded his commentary, "t_he boy's whereabouts is charted in my mind's map. And since my muse is stroking so soothingly at my charity, climb aboard and give another go at your knight in shinning armor allure._"

Her feet following the sway of the ship along the dock as it set sail. The other two Charmings a few feet behind.

"_My charity only extends so far, Swan. The parents, stay in Storybrooke, along with little Miss Hell on heels and the scaled-crocodile._"

The prospect, blatantly pessimistic. And although, the plan was flawed, she followed the fleeting ship. The blonde swiftly snatched the slack rope and climbed aboard just as the ship pulled from the port. The Charming's calling out her name, baffled she took the bait. And as the ship continued to sail, her heart sunk in the captivity of her chest. Knowing full well, what this entailed. Gone, would be the town that changed it all. Gone, would be the parents who pried their way into her life. All that remained was question...would it all be worth it in the end?

"_If you want to survive this sail of the seas, this time around, don't try that again._" Her tone coursing with conflict, "_not only did you play a part in getting my son lost to I have no clue where, Never Never Land, but now I'm faced with the fate of leaving behind the parents I've waited a lifetime to find._" The deck was surprisingly sturdy as she steadily made her way to _him_ and snatched the small leather carrier from his waist. "S_o spare me the temptation of tossing you overboard and downing you myself,_" sarcasm, savory sweet laced her lips as she threw the bean to the waves and watched the water swallow the last of her hope.


	2. A pirate, has no pity

"_A pirate has no pity. I'm just a man offering my ship and my services to a lady…in need._"

Unlike their run-ins prior, his words held no undertone. There was no satisfied smirk lurking at his lips, just casual commentary. And although, his features gave no sign in faltering, his eyes exposed much more than they cared to let on, or so it would seem, even if she couldn't quite pinpoint the precise emotion. "_Thus, _accountable_, I can't be held. No one welcomed you aboard; your compulsion deemed you worthy of your own disappointment. Not I. So you shall, spare me some of the blame._"

This time, he feigned of the faintness of a forced sneer as he turned on his heels to other matters…like saluting farewell to a town he'd never have the likes of calling his own. "_I am rather fond of you taking so much endeavor to deride me of my good intentions of the here and now. Though, the threat of you throwing me overboard, I can live without._"

Something similar to a smile spread, lacing the length of his lips as he turned once more to her, the tips of his fingers brushing a flyway strand of golden hair behind her ear and out of her eyes. With one swift step he made smaller the distance shared between them, "_Make no mistakes, Swan…I am a man of my word and I do intend to aide you in your adventure. But, I won't settle for such…undermining, on my ship and from the likes of not so subtle women, like you, lass._"

Emma refrained from awarding him with any approval with her own amusement. Instead, she peeled herself away from his hand's gesture. "_Better watch where you put that free-flying hand of yours…it might be a bit difficult to sail a ship with two hooks._" An effortless smile would have concluded her wit, if it weren't for the lack of interest.

Her thoughts trailing, her hues attached to the sight of Storybrooke slipping into the distance as they sailed on. So long she sought to stumble on a place she could call home. Storybrooke seemed like suitable settling ground and yet here she was, pried from its grasp, plunging once again, into uncharted territory. The thought, not so appealing as she turned her attention back to the suave bandit, who, returned her stare within one of his own and full of inquiry.

"_Need I remind you, love…the town will still stand without you playing its savior. It will be just as you left it, when you return with your son…_"

His words, wavering as the ships bow, bowed to beach the portals brim. "_But if you wish to safeguard what you've longed to find your whole like through, the turning back point ends here. Are we pulling back or pushing onward?_"

His rationale temptingly toyed at her thoughts and at precisely the right time.

"_I've played the part of a skeptic to perfection. I have sworn an oath, not my own, to save a town that needed safeguarding. It's about time I sealed my own fate for once._"

For a split second they caught each other's stare. Both promising silently the start of a long overdo duo coming to terms with a past that was always one step ahead. This time, they would be the ones to turn the tide, "Sail on, _Captain._"

And with that the ship swayed into the swirling waves of the water and plummeted, diving straight into the depths of the portal.

"_Steady yourself, Swan, we're off to a land you'd do anything to lose._"

/

The sea was a massive sight and no land in line of view for miles long. Without hesitation, Emma's hues stole a glance over her shoulder at the pirate, who seemed to hold strong suspicion to the specifics of where they had landed. For he breathed in a bated breath and sealed his eyes shut, taking in the breeze that soothed his composure. Involuntarily, the blonde let out a sigh at the sight and loosened her grip on the rope that was now roughly rubbing against the flesh of her palms, grating them raw.

"_Here,_" Hook's tone calm and caressing as held out a handkerchief, making his way to her, "_for your hands._"

"_What, sparing me the similar stunt you pulled back on top of the beanstalk?_" She merely mocked at his genuine gesture, snatching the cloth from his hand. For a man who had been deemed anything but polite, he held promising to gentleman such statue on rare occasion. Which, evidently she found all the more amusing. Considering, such quality only persisted in the times that they were alone. And now, that they were seemingly stuck on a ship, in the middle of the sea, with nowhere to run…well it wasn't all that ironic he'd pick now to test out his luck. A gentle grin graced her lips as she gave a go at wrapping her hand.

"_Just sparing the rum, this time 'round._"

He wasted no time with the small chat, grasping her hand in his. "_Long journey and all,_ _with_ you _aboard._ _Rum might come quite in handy._" He mused, fiddling the cloth into a knot with his fingers, "_You are a bit of a pain in the arse, now and again._"

His smile, simple, but sincere, as he let her hand slip from his hold. And so she retuned it, despite knowing there was much more to come. He had a way with adding in complimentary commentary she could do without. And right on cue, he started spilling.

The flat of his palm, pressed firmly to his chest, resting it right above his heart as he spoke. "_Dare you admit to,_ me,_ leaving an impression on _you, _Swan? Oh how this weathered heart weeps in true triumph._" His slender smile turning smirk with just as much ease.

Her eyes rolled, effortlessly, "_Don't float your boat. You weren't _that_ impressionable._" Brow quirking as her thumbs looped loosely into the back pockets of her pants, "'_member, _I_ left_ you _cuffed to a giant's gold room so I couldn't have you tagging along back to town?_" She taunted his elevated ego with a generous tease.

"_Speaking of,_" he, without breaking eye contact, swiftly slipped his hand into the hem of her coat's pocket, pulling free the cuffs. "These_, are mine now._" He stated, matter-of-factly, placing the cuffs into his chest's pocket. "_Can't have you getting…_creative_, anytime soon._"

"_What happened to,_ 'try something new, it's called trust', _hm?_"

She attempted a mock as his accent, but couldn't cut it close enough, which seemed to amuse the pirate all the more. "_Besides, that's stealing from a Sheriff and secondly, I'm not in the mood to get_ creative_ in holding a pirate captive._" Her mind, for a moment, thinking up the ways in which he might consider creative, before tossing the thought aside, "_But fine, keep the cuffs, when we get back to Storybrooke, I'm hauling your ass to the station and bounding you behind bars until they're returned to my safe keeping._"

She smiled a smile sleekly sweet, as she shifted, supplying some space between them, in which he wasn't too keen in complying to. For he took hold of her hand, stealing it from its former position, resting in her pants pocket.

"_First, since we're doing this in numerical standard, Sheriff Swan existed in Storybrooke. Here, on _my _ship and in the middle of the seas, _you_ are just the guest of honor, to me, your Captain._" As he spoke, he eyed her hand, the one not bandaged from rope burn, reviewing the damage, "_secondly, it has nothing to do with trust, love. More off desperate distress to sought out your son. And, you may or may not, think I will hinder those plans. I'm not willing to tempt my chances with a woman of boundless creativity._"

Tearing free a piece of clean cloth tucked into the side lining of his vest, he begin to bind her wound. She, in response, reached up to help the subtle notion only to brush the tips of her fingers briefly against his. It was something that startled her as their stares, again, locked. His touch was smooth against the surface of her hand's palm, almost tender, despite the weathered ruggedness of his skin. And in the still of a moment, she wondered whether his tale was worth the tell. He let her hand go with the shift of his stance, as the silence between them, shattered. She could tell he was a bit bothered…or rather, betrayed by her realization kicking in. And so he did, what he does best…

"_And last, but definitely not least, I'll go willingly to you bounding me to whatever you wish. Perhaps, we can give another go to the bed scenario. Since you seem to like tying me up or tying me down._"


End file.
